VICTORIA — Opposition leader Adrian Dix has upped the stakes in his challenge to the B.C. Liberals over their notorious ethnic outreach strategy, taking his concerns directly to the RCMP and provoking the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Dix confirmed as much via press release Thursday.

“This investigation relates to concerns the Opposition raised repeatedly in the legislature, as well as other serious issues,” he was quoted as saying.

“I thought these issues were sufficiently serious as to warrant an investigation ... I raised these concerns in early August in a confidential letter to the RCMP, which laid out the grounds for our concerns.”

The Dix statement followed by a half an hour an announcement from the criminal justice branch that “a special prosecutor has been appointed to assist police with an ongoing investigation into alleged contraventions of the provincial Election Act.”

Without naming the leader of the Opposition, the statement then went on to say that the RCMP had received a complaint in August.

The force responded by launching an investigation. Following the usual practice in politically sensitive cases, police on Aug. 29 sought the appointment of an independent special prosecutor.

The branch responded the same day, naming Vancouver lawyer David Butcher. He’s to advise the police in the course of their investigation and, in the event there is a recommendation for charges, he’ll make the final call on whether charges should be laid.

Police are investigating matters arising out of the government’s own report on the ethnic outreach scandal, overseen by deputy minister to the premier John Dyble and made public in March. The Dix complaint also “alleged Election Act irregularities.”

More than that, Dix would not confirm.

“In order to ensure the integrity of the work of the Special Prosecutor and the RCMP, I will not provide any further details at this point,” said his release. “For the same reasons, I chose not to draw public attention to these concerns after I had written to the RCMP.”

The branch likewise avoided specifics, though it did explain the gap between the end of last month’s appointment of the special prosecutor and this week’s publication of the news.

“Announcement of the appointment was delayed by the branch until today’s date at the specific request of the RCMP to safeguard the integrity of the investigation in its early stages.”

Which invites speculation that police were engaged in securing records, perhaps by interviewing people and visiting offices, or even with the assistance of search warrants.

As for what they might have been looking for, there’s this loose end from the government review of the scandal that did call for further action by the legal authorities.

“The legal services branch of the ministry of justice should take appropriate action to secure any government records in the possession of former public servants and caucus employees named in this report and to seek an undertaking that these records have not been used for inappropriate purposes.”

The prime goal of the outreach strategy, when hatched in the premier’s office in early 2012, was to use government resources to assemble a wide range of contacts in ethnic communities, then relay those to the Liberal party to assist in building a database for the coming provincial election campaign.

That the Liberals went ahead and did this to an extent never admitted nor fully documented publicly was the central allegation levelled by the New Democrats in the legislature, both before and after the election.

Then there’s the complaint levelled by Dix’s hand-picked campaign director Brian Topp in his recent post-mortem on the election. With hindsight, he says the New Democrats should have launched a “more aggressive, bloody-minded” campaign against Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals over their botched ethnic memo scandal.

The failure to do so may have cost the New Democrats the election. He further argues that what he regards as the successful implementation of the ethnic outreach strategy helped the Liberals to carry the day on May 14.

“In its final effect, this strategy likely contributed significantly to the ultimate Liberal victory,” wrote Topp. “Chinese language media in particular were notably ardent in their over-the-top partisan political support for the 2013 Liberal campaign.”

Dix, for his part, went a step further during the legislature session, insinuating that the Liberals had all but stolen the election with their ethnic outreach strategy. “They were cheating,” he told reporters. “They were cheating ... and they knew they were cheating.”

Nor was Dix satisfied when the independent information commissioner, Elizabeth Denman, conducted her own investigation of the ethnic outreach strategy.

She put key witnesses under oath, reviewed unredacted versions of the 10,000 pages of documents assembled by the government in its investigation, and found “no evidence” that the Liberals were illegally sharing information between government and party. Dix thought she should have gone further.

So he took his case to the RCMP.

By doing so, he risks accusations that he’s enlisting the police to re-fight the election.

But if he does have solid evidence of criminal wrongdoing, then he’s gone to the right place.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Vaughn Palmer: Liberal ethnic voter scandal lands in hands of RCMP

Video

Today's News

Best of Postmedia

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, ‘Come and see.’ And I saw, and behold a white elephant, and he that sat upon him had a crown, which he wore atop his fiery hair, and […]

Millennials, amirite? They’re nothing but Instagram-happy, emoji-LOL-ing, mannequin-challenging navelgazers. Or so the theory goes. How can they put their pants on one leg at a time, like everyone else, when they’re sausaged into skinny jeans? Yet when it comes to […]

An Ottawa judge has thrown out a romance fraud case that has taken more than four years to go to trial, ruling that the excessive delay has robbed the accused man of his right to a fair trial. Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips on Friday stayed the case against Kevin Bishop of Ottawa, who had […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.